'Engineer ka Thela' by a Jaipur Techie

Not every kid who does Engineering wants to be an engineer. Do you remember R Madhavan's character from 3 idiots, who wanted to be a wildlife photographer and not an engineer? And then, not every engineer, who takes up that B.Tech degree after years of hard work, studying and endless examinations, gets a good placement offer.

It's sad that most students in India struggle because of the lack of career choices after school. Most parents want their kids to either pursue Engineering, Medicine, Law or CA courses. This has become a trend in most cities and towns of India. But we do not actually have enough opportunities to accommodate all engineers and doctors that pass out every year.

Today we are going to talk about a similar story, the story of Deepanshu Jain, a 23-year-old Jaipur lad coming from an upper middle class family. He too took up a combination of Science and Maths in school, followed by JEE coachings and finally making it to a reputed engineering college of Jaipur. He is a B.Tech pass out in Computer Science, who was waiting for a giant IT company to pick him up but unfortunately, ended up getting no good placements (like million other engineering students). But there's something he did differently.

Engineer ka Thela

Tired of waiting for decent job offers, the Jaipur techie, Deepanshu Jainstarted a fast-food thela in Lal Kothi, Jaipur. He funnily named it as 'Engineer ka Thela', which is getting quite a lot of attention and has become a popular food joint in Jaipur, especially for other engineers. Passionate about cooking, Deepanshu started his food thela in Jaipur last month with just Rs.10,000 and the help of a friend and he has already employed 2 youngsters. Believing in Modi's Digital India, he accepts PayTM for payments. You can spot his thela in Krishna Nagar, opposite Vidhan Sabha, Jaipur.

Challenges

The biggest challenge for Deepanshu was to convince his parents, particularly his father, due to same, universal question - 'Log Kya Kahenge?'. His father, who is himself a senior official at the Rajasthan Technical University (RTU), was very restrictive about his son opening a thela in Jaipur after doing engineering.

Several people including relatives laughed and mocked at him saying 'Engineer hoke thela kholega?' ('How can you set up a food thela after having a degree in engineering?'). Deepanshu wants to send across a message that no work is small or big. It was only after such reactions from the people around him that he decided to name his startup food joint in Jaipur as 'Engineer ka Thela'.

A hit with engineering students

Deepanshu's Engineer ka Thela is a hit among engineering students. Well, he does make yummy frankiesfor dead cheap prices. He says that he enjoys cooking and decided to sell veg frankies, also known as kathi rolls or wraps, as he is pretty good at making them. He also sells keri ki chhachh that his mother prepares.

The food he has to offer is damn good. But other than food, what brings people to his thela in Jaipur is his story. Several engineers share that they can relate to his story. Rohit Keswani, a regular visitor at Engineer ka Thela and an engineer himself, says he finds a certain connection with Deepanshu as his interest also lies in photography. Similarly, Ayush Tiwari, another regular customer, says that he often visits this area which has ample of food joints to relish street food Jaipur but when he came across Engineer ka Thela, he just couldn't stop himself from speaking to Deepanshu and knowing his story. Ayush too wants to start his own business.

Future Plans

In just a month's time after opening up, Deepanshu has already employed 2 youngsters. Since he has started well, he plans to open more thelas in Jaipur at different locations in the city. In fact, to take a dig at his college management, Deepanshu also plans to open one right opposite to his college. He hopes to expand his venture in the coming times and also provide employment to people like him, who are stuck without jobs.

One more Thela Already

Within a few months, they have come up with another Thela, a franchise of Engineer ka Thela, which came up on 28th May 2017.

Location: Triveni Nagar, Gopalpura Bypass, Jaipur

Opens at: 5 p.m.

Parents in India are frightened about letting their kids pursue anything less than engineering or the other conventional career options. While there is awareness about new subjects but when the kids want to pursue something different, enough acceptability of letting them follow their passions is missing.